The 2011 Africa Learning Team has taken off! The team left last night and will travel for 2 days to get to Zimbabwe. There, they will spend the next two weeks meeting with our MCC partners on the ground and hear and learn first-hand of the incredible work happening in southern Africa. Please keep this team in your prayers, in particular for:

For good health and strength each day of the journey

For humility and a caring heart that will encourage those we meet

For the building and strengthening of relationships with our brothers and sisters in southern Africa as we learn together

For an abundance of God’s love and compassion to share with others

For grace and flexibility to deal with any unexpected challenges

That God would be glorified in everything we say and do

Jarrid Wilson writes about The Lions Den! 

“Stop searching for a faith that will keep you from the lions den, and start embracing the God who protects you in the lions den.”

This is the book that was mentioned last week at YA home church on Thursday. Check it out! 

“Our best days often start out as our worst days. And our greatest opportunities are often disguised as our biggest problems. You can land in a pit with a lion on a snowy day, and it will seem like the end of the road. But God is in the recycling business. He recycles past experiences and uses them to prepare us for future opportunities. That is the story of my life. And that is the story of your life. Look in the rearview mirror long enough and you’ll see that God has purposely positioned you everywhere you’ve been—even when it seemed you’d taken a wrong turn.” —Mark Batterson